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After two frustrating weeks of playing error-prone football, the shoe was on the other foot Friday night as the Shoremen pounded Elyria 48-15. This time it was the opposition making the mistakes, and Avon Lake made the Pioneers pay for every miscue. Offensively the Shoremen showed good balance with Mike Mansnerus rushing for 125 yards, Nick Marinkov for 90, and Ronnie Willoughby pulling in six Trent Toy passes for 112 yards. Craig Goodwin and Craig Shaffer each added a TD for the home team.

Avon Lake kicked off and pinned Elyria deep at their own 17. The defense forced a quick three and out, with Jordan Market returning the punt to the Pioneer 41. On 3^rd & 6, Marinkov gained 14 on a counter, and a 10 yard Mansnerus run gave the Shoremen a first down at the 13. Mike broke free up the middle for the 13 yard TD and Brad Brill’s PAT made it 7-0 just over three minutes into the game. Disaster struck for Elyria on the kickoff as they fumbled and Mike Alflen recovered for A.L. at the 19. Marinkov cashed in on a bruising run from nine yards out and it was 14-0. On the next series, Brian Walborn recovered another Elyria fumble at the visitors’ 29. Three play later it was 21-0 Shoremen with 4:36 still left in the first period. The teams exchanged punts to end the quarter.

The Pioneers continued to self-destruct in the second quarter. On the first play an attempted bubble screen was broken up in the backfield. It was ruled a backward pass and Jordan Market recovered at the Elyria 43. The Shoremen came up short on fourth down and Elyria got the ball back on their own 34. A big third down sack by Brian Mihalik forced another punt, this one a beauty that ended up at the Avon Lake 20. It took just six plays for the Shoremen to score, as Toy and Willoughby hooked up on passes of 13, 17, and 34 yards. The last one was a short hook pattern on the left sideline, but Ronnie dodged the first tackler and then turned on the jets to race in for the score. The Pioneers came back to score before the half when Demetrius Walton-Kirkendoll made a great leaping catch on a bomb from Mike Woolfork at the Shoremen four. Woolfork ran the last four yards to make the halftime score 28-7.

The Shoremen made a statement to open the second half, covering 80 yards in nine plays as the offensive line really dominated in the trenches. Marinkov popped out of a crowd and sprinted 30 yards for a 34-7 lead. After Elyria went three and out, Avon Lake drove to the Pioneer 7 before 3 incomplete passes gave the ball back on downs. Again the defense forced a punt and the Shoremen began the fourth quarter at the Pioneer 45. With the reserves running the offense, Avon Lake came up just short of a first down when a fumble on fourth down was covered by the Pioneers. After a punt to the Shoremen 10, backup TB Craig Goodwin carried seven straight times. He covered all 90 yards on the drive, capped off by a 14 yard TD run to make the score 41-7. Elyria hit another long pass to the Shoremen two late the in the game, and a touchdown run plus a two point conversion made it 41-15 with less than a minute to play. Craig Shaffer returned the kickoff 90 yards to account for the final score.

Notes:

· Shaffer, Willoughby, and Goodwin tallied their first varsity touchdowns, and Toy threw for his first.

· Shaffer’s kick return for a touchdown was the first for the Shoremen since 2005. Who had the last one? (answer below)

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Avon Lake	21	7	6	14	48
Elyria	0	7	0	8	15

	E	A.L.
First downs	12	19
Rush Yds	44	316
Pass Yds	142	116
Passes att-comp-int	18-9-0	15-7-0
Fumbles-lost	4-3	1-1
Penalties	6-45	2-25

AL – Mansnerus 13 run (Brill kick)
AL – Marinkov 9 run (Brill kick)
AL – Mansnerus 8 run (Brill kick)
AL – Willoughby 34 pass from Toy (Brill kick)
E – Woolfork 4 run (Jones kick)
AL – Marinkov 30 run (kick failed)
AL – Goodwin 14 run (Brill kick)
E—Martin 2 run (Martin pass from Stolarski)
AL – Shaffer 90 kickoff return (Brill kick)

*The last Shoremen to return a kickoff for a TD was Scott Nealon vs. Berea in 2005.